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I'd been waiting for the "right time" to post this (not sure what THAT was) but given the recent discussion about site funding, here it is.

As many of you know this site has always survived on a combination of personal donations from a once a year funding drive, and my own pocket.

Recently our family has undergone a bit of a personal hit. A year ago my wife was preparing to go on maternity leave prior to giving birth to our second son, and her employer tried to do everything possible to first get her to quit, and then to fire her, purely because she was about to go on leave. She ended up having to go on leave 8 weeks early due to the stress of it all. Fast forward a year and when preparing for her to return to work, we found out she would not be welcomed back and would be terminated. Needless to say this has been a massive emotional hit, as well as financial as we adjust to life with one salary for now.

As a result of this financial "belt tightening" I'm forced to try to manage all "non-essential" costs. That doesn't mean that the future of the site is remotely at risk, it's not, don't worry. But I'll also look at other options of funding it in addition to any donations (have I said thanks enough? Because I don't think I can, seriously.)

I haven't done a ton of research thus far, but I will entertain all options be it advertisements, sponsored posts or similar. One option I'm considering is to set up an affiliate account with Amazon. There won't be any affiliate links in posts, but there would be a link in the "support us" page at the top of the screen. if you use that for any amazon shopping it really helps us out at WRC.

Take a look at the Support Us page in the coming days for more details.

Thanks again for all of your ongoing support not only in this tough time, but over the past four years of supporting WRC. You all are the best!

It may be worth setting up a dfp account and possible letting local businesses run banner ads. Or have a section on the forum for local businesses to post about themselves, their services etc at a small cost.IE business accounts pay a small subscription fee.
With it controlled you won’t get a bunch of inrelated advertising as you would in Adsense.

Spokes. I can't thank you enough for your efforts and my thoughts are with you as you and your family navigate your way through these new challenges. I have a feeling what is an initially horrible experience will end up being a great opportunity.

That said, I have no issues with continuing a fund drive donation period. After that, whatever you deem necessary to gain revenue I am fine with. I see advertising banners on most sites so it wouldn't bother me. The Ammzon idea sounds great too. I shop a lot on Amazon.

I'd been waiting for the "right time" to post this (not sure what THAT was) but given the recent discussion about site funding, here it is.

As many of you know this site has always survived on a combination of personal donations from a once a year funding drive, and my own pocket.

Recently our family has undergone a bit of a personal hit. A year ago my wife was preparing to go on maternity leave prior to giving birth to our second son, and her employer tried to do everything possible to first get her to quit, and then to fire her, purely because she was about to go on leave. She ended up having to go on leave 8 weeks early due to the stress of it all. Fast forward a year and when preparing for her to return to work, we found out she would not be welcomed back and would be terminated. Needless to say this has been a massive emotional hit, as well as financial as we adjust to life with one salary for now.

As a result of this financial "belt tightening" I'm forced to try to manage all "non-essential" costs. That doesn't mean that the future of the site is remotely at risk, it's not, don't worry. But I'll also look at other options of funding it in addition to any donations (have I said thanks enough? Because I don't think I can, seriously.)

I haven't done a ton of research thus far, but I will entertain all options be it advertisements, sponsored posts or similar. One option I'm considering is to set up an affiliate account with Amazon. There won't be any affiliate links in posts, but there would be a link in the "support us" page at the top of the screen. if you use that for any amazon shopping it really helps us out at WRC.

Take a look at the Support Us page in the coming days for more details.

Thanks again for all of your ongoing support not only in this tough time, but over the past four years of supporting WRC. You all are the best!

Can you do what Wikipedia does? They sort of have a nag screen letting you know that the site isn't free to run. For me, it turns off once I log in (since I try to donate every year), perhaps the same here. People could be as generous or able as they want to be. I've only donated to this site and Wikipedia.

To be honest, I am not a huge fan of advertisements (see the last sentence in the paragraph), but you gotta do what you gotta do. Sponsored posts are a good idea (or sponsored threads/topics). Perhaps this would be a good feature especially if they sponsor a topic that they're involved with (like DTK Condo). Baseball-reference used to allow people to sponsor a players page. They now have two options; regular (with ads), or ad-free ($20/year). That might work well for you.

Yes, some advertising (as annoying as it can be and as middling the revenue can be) with the option for people to contribute ($10? $20?) to get an ad-free experience would be good. But the question is whether MyBB provides any kind of support for that kind of model.

(07-08-2018, 11:12 AM)jeffster Wrote: Can you do what Wikipedia does? They sort of have a nag screen letting you know that the site isn't free to run. For me, it turns off once I log in (since I try to donate every year), perhaps the same here. People could be as generous or able as they want to be. I've only donated to this site and Wikipedia.

To be honest, I am not a huge fan of advertisements (see the last sentence in the paragraph), but you gotta do what you gotta do. Sponsored posts are a good idea (or sponsored threads/topics). Perhaps this would be a good feature especially if they sponsor a topic that they're involved with (like DTK Condo). Baseball-reference used to allow people to sponsor a players page. They now have two options; regular (with ads), or ad-free ($20/year). That might work well for you.

We currently run an announcement at the top of the site during the donation drive, but I think I can manually override it for those that have donated.

I don't love advertisements either, and to be honest, I'm not sure they would be that beneficial. Sponsored posts might be a good route to go down without bombarding people with the visual clutter of ads.

When you go to buy something click on the link from the about us page, then find the item you want and buy it. Amazon works on an affiliate model meaning the last person to refer you to their site gets credit if you buy something within 12 hours

Good luck in your personal life... I really hope you are going after the (ex) employer for wrongful termination so that this d-bag can't do this to others. Just when you think women's rights have moved forward in the 21 century....

When you go to buy something click on the link from the about us page, then find the item you want and buy it. Amazon works on an affiliate model meaning the last person to refer you to their site gets credit if you buy something within 12 hours

OHHHH !! Thanks, that is easy. I am off to do some shopping now. To be clear, each time I buy something, I should launch my Amazon account from the WRC link ?

Good luck in your personal life... I really hope you are going after the (ex) employer for wrongful termination so that this d-bag can't do this to others. Just when you think women's rights have moved forward in the 21 century....

Coke

A good employment lawyer should have a field day with a maternity-related termination case. Melanie Reist (https://www.mrkfirm.com) is very, very good if you need an employment lawyer, Spokes.

Good luck in your personal life... I really hope you are going after the (ex) employer for wrongful termination so that this d-bag can't do this to others. Just when you think women's rights have moved forward in the 21 century....

Coke

I know, it's crazy. And the irony of it all is that the boss is a woman. (not that it should matter). To add further irony to the situation, the lawyer's business motto is "putting families first" or something to that effect.

(07-09-2018, 10:03 AM)tomh009 Wrote: A good employment lawyer should have a field day with a maternity-related termination case. Melanie Reist (https://www.mrkfirm.com) is very, very good if you need an employment lawyer, Spokes.

Thanks for the suggestion. We've met with a lawyer extensively. The employer unfortunately found a bit of a loophole and took advantage of it. Also, by taking her vacation time on the tail end of her mat leave, that changes her entitlements as she's returning more than the allocated 52 week leave. That was our fault for not knowing that, but also, we didn't realize this would play out this way.

Needless to say, with all of the stress, sleepless nights and tears, we needed to put this behind us and try to move forward.

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Launched in August 2014, Waterloo Region Connected is an online community that brings together all the things that make Waterloo Region great. Waterloo Region Connected provides user-driven content fueled by a lively discussion forum covering topics like urban development, transportation projects, heritage issues, businesses and other issues of interest to those in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and the four Townships - North Dumfries, Wellesley, Wilmot, and Woolwich.